Refurbished equipment

I'm on the equipment search for Gracie. We've decided to adapt her current wheelchair so that it actually works for her and NOT pursue power wheelchair at this time. This plan seems more practical for our first time moving to Uganda! But I also need to get her a light weight stroller with a seating/positioning system - this can get expensive, so I'm looking into refurbished equipment.

If anyone has used the Special Tomatos MPS (Multipositioning system), let me know your thoughts on it! It would be very useful to have an all-in-one system that can be used in the house, in a restaurant or school (on a regular chair), in the car as her carseat, and as a stroller.

Here are some links to useful sites regarding refurbished equipment in New England. If you know of others, please comment! Thanks!

http://www.getatstuff.org/

http://www.massfamilyties.org/directory/assistive_technology.pdf

Pass It On
PO Box 2120
Mashpee, MA 02649
Contact: George Navin
Accepts and donates used equipment. 800-267-6768 MA only
508-477-6966

Ayers Handicap Conversion Center
440-B E Squantum, Suite 10
North Quincy, MA 02171
Web site: http://www.ayershandicapvans.com
Accepts and loans used equipment. 800-328-5489
617-328-0102

Refurbished Equipment Marketplace
New Hampshire Assistive Technology Center
84A Ironworks Rd
Concord, NH 03301
Website: http://www.nhassistivetechnology.org/rem.htm
Sells donated equipment. Loans software, but not computers. 800-427-3338 NH only
603-224-7630

New England Assistive Technology (NEAT) Marketplace
120 Holcomb St
Hartford, CT 06112
Website: www.neatmarketplace.org
Email: info@neatmarketplace.org
866-526-4492
860-243-2869
860-286-3111 FAX

Vermont AT Project
103 S Main St Weeks Bldg
Waterbury, VT 05671-2305
Website: http://www.dad.state.vt.us/atp/
800-750-6355 VT only
802-241-2620

Comments

Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d...

New Stage of Life

Gracie has entered a new developmental stage. She now is active and has been rolling all over the floor. We cleared out a little living room so that she would have room to roll around - she's rolling front to back, both directions. She also has been much easier to get up on all fours - it used to take 3-4 adults to cram her into the crawling position due to her resistance. She now even spontaneously gets into a semi-crawling position on her own. In the crawling position she's been weight bearing even on her right arm (but always in combination with her left arm). She also has been rocking a little in the crawling position as if she gets it that this is a way that you can move! It's been so exciting. But it also makes her much more eager to be down with other kids and moving around. She's in a very active active stage, always moving, and wanting to move. She's also taken, not just a huge interest in other kids, but also interest in toys a bit more. She's so fun!

Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl...

Rattins living Coram Deo

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